Palo Alto's 1970s Eichler tracts come from the end of Joseph Eichler's career. The City's 2018 Eichler design guidelines list three of them, all credited to architect Claude Oakland: Midcourt (1972, 9 lots), Community Center (1973, 30 lots) and Los Arboles Addition No. 2 (1974, 31 lots). They are numbers 29 to 31 in the legend of the City's tract map, and they went up after Eichler Homes had closed.
This post covers the companies behind them, what the records say about each tract, the design features the guidelines tie to them, from hipped and center-gable roofs to original two-story houses, and what those features mean for an owner. Where no record names a tract's streets, we say so. For homes across the city, see our Palo Alto mid-century modern page.
After Eichler Homes: the companies behind the 1970s tracts
The City's guidelines tell the turn briefly. Large projects in San Francisco "overextended the company, which filed for bankruptcy and closed in 1967." Joseph Eichler then set up J. L. Eichler Associates and kept working as an independent developer. "He died in 1974, and the last Eichler house was completed in Palo Alto on Guinda Street in 1975."
Other official records add detail, and their dates don't all line up:
The Greenmeadow National Register nomination says that in 1966 the company was taken over when two Southern California investors bought a controlling share of its stock. Eichler kept building "through a series of reincarnations of his original company until his death in 1974."
A Caltrans statewide study of tract housing dates the bankruptcy to 1967 and says Eichler then built tracts under different company names until his death in 1974, "but on a much smaller scale." It also records an observation that buyers' growing expectation of air conditioning, which the standard radiant floor heating couldn't be adapted to provide, diminished the appeal of the Eichler house, and says a trend toward larger, multi-level houses in the later 1960s did too.
The guide to Claude Oakland's firm's archive at UC Berkeley's Environmental Design Archives lists Eichler's companies as Eichler Homes, Inc. (1950–1968), J.L. Eichler Associates, Inc. (1966–1972), Nonpareil Homes, Inc. (1967) and Alsco Homes, Inc. (1973–1974).
So the end of Eichler Homes is dated 1966, 1967 or 1968 depending on the record and on what it measures. All four sources agree he died in 1974. None we read gives the month.
Claude Oakland, the architect of all three
The guidelines' architect profiles explain why one name runs through all three tracts. Oakland joined Anshen and Allen in 1950 and oversaw many of the firm's Eichler designs over the next ten years. When he formed his own firm, Claude Oakland & Associates, in 1960, "he was immediately brought aboard Eichler's design team." He relied on that work until Eichler's death in 1974, formed a partnership with his associate Kinji Imada in 1977, and worked until his death in 1989.
The guidelines credit Oakland with widening the company's roof vocabulary beyond the simple forms of the 1950s tracts. He "introduced hipped roofs, gabled roofs with flat peaks, and gables positioned parallel to the street," and he "even helped Eichler Homes develop two-story house designs, which are found in a few of Palo Alto's Eichler tracts."
His firm's archive is the other key record. The archive guide says Eichler project records make up the bulk of the collection and that house models are named by a subdivision location code and a model number. Its project index lists the Palo Alto projects of these years with their developer companies.
Midcourt (1972): nine lots, one archive entry
The City's table gives Midcourt one year, 1972, credits Claude Oakland, and counts 9 lots. On the citywide map it's number 29, a small piece drawn beside Los Arboles (number 27) and Los Arboles Addition No. 2 (number 31).
The archive index has an entry with a similar name: "Midcourt Place," on Toyon Place in Palo Alto, a residential subdivision dated 1969–1972, with J.L. Eichler Associates, Inc. as developer and models PA-3, PA-4, PA-14, PA-44 and PA-54. If the two are the same, the archive's dates start three years before the City's single year.
The City's assessor parcels layer, which we queried on November 8, 2026, shows eight parcels on Toyon Place with a 1972 build year. Parcels there are zoned R-1 with no overlay suffix, sit in flood zone X and list a historic status of "none." The City's Midcourt may be the archive's Midcourt Place. We think so, but no record we read says the two are the same, and the City's table doesn't name a street. For a specific lot, check the recorded tract map on the parcel record.
Community Center (1973): two blocks the records don't name
The City's table dates Community Center to 1973, credits Claude Oakland, and counts 30 lots. Its map draws the tract as two small blocks north of Embarcadero Road, west of the Channing Park tracts (numbers 6 and 14). Neither the table nor the map names its streets, and we didn't find an official record that does, so we don't list them here.
The guidelines say more about Community Center's houses than about its location:
Its roofs include forms Oakland developed in the early 1970s: "center gable, turned gable, flat topped center gable, and hipped roofs," which the guidelines place in both the Los Arboles Addition and Community Center tracts.
Shingled roofs, "relatively uncommon" on Eichlers, are found "such as in the Community Center tract."
Hipped roofs "were used on homes in later Eichler neighborhoods, such as Community Center, but... these are not typical of Eichlers."
The archive index doesn't use the name Community Center. To learn whether a house is in the tract, look up the parcel's recorded tract map with the county and compare it with the guidelines' map.
Los Arboles Addition No. 2 (1974): two stories from the start
The City's table dates Los Arboles Addition No. 2 to 1974, credits Claude Oakland and counts 31 lots. The guidelines' text gives a range instead: "Some tracts that Eichler developed later in his career, such as the Los Arboles Addition of 1972-1974, included two-story houses designed by Claude Oakland." Their chapter on historic listing adds that the Addition "includes original two-story Eichlers, which are unique and may be eligible for individual listing."
The City's November 2015 staff report on the Los Arboles single-story overlay describes the tract next door as Torreya Court, Tract #5371, with 30 homes. Nine are original two-story Eichlers, 30 percent of the total. That was too many to meet the 80 percent single-story threshold for starting a rezoning, so Torreya Court was left out of the 2015 overlay. Staff noted that several two-story owners were concerned their homes would become non-complying facilities.
The archive index lists "Los Arboles Addition" at "Track 5371," dated 1973–1974, with J.L. Eichler Associates, Inc. as developer and a set of PA models. The entry doesn't add "No. 2," but its tract number is the one the staff report gives Torreya Court. Our Los Arboles history matched Torreya Court to the Addition on its own reading; no record we read names Torreya Court as Addition No. 2. One quirk: the archive guide dates J.L. Eichler Associates to 1966–1972, yet its index credits that company with a 1973–1974 project. We report both as written.
The City's parcel layer today shows 22 parcels on Torreya Court with a 1974 build year, zoned R-1 (7000), two of them partly R-1, and none with the overlay.
Owning a 1970s Eichler: what the guidelines say
The guidelines' general advice applies here, and our guide to Palo Alto's Eichler design guidelines walks through it. A few points bear directly on these three tracts:
Re-roofing. Where shingles were original, "such as in the Community Center tract," the preferred treatment is to re-roof with shingles. Standing-seam metal is "not encouraged."
Roof height. Avoid raising a roof form above its original height.
Second stories. A second-story addition "may not be appropriate" on roofs "with more steeply pitched center gables," which the guidelines locate in Community Center and the Los Arboles Addition.
Original two-story houses. In Addition No. 2, a second floor may be original. Check the permit history before assuming it was added, and ask planning staff whether the guidelines' listing note affects your plans.
Zoning. Parcels on Toyon Place and Torreya Court show no single-story overlay today. For any lot, including in Community Center, read the zoning line on the parcel report.
This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm current rules with the City of Palo Alto's planning division before you design. For the full list of Palo Alto tracts, see our Palo Alto Eichler neighborhoods guide.
Frequently asked questions
Who built Palo Alto's 1970s Eichlers?
Joseph Eichler, after Eichler Homes closed. The archive of Claude Oakland's firm lists J.L. Eichler Associates, Inc. as developer of Midcourt Place and the Los Arboles Addition. The City credits all three 1970s tracts to Oakland as architect.
Are there original two-story Eichlers in Palo Alto?
Yes. The guidelines say Oakland's two-story designs are found in a few Palo Alto tracts, including the Los Arboles Addition. The City's 2015 report counted nine original two-story Eichlers on Torreya Court.
Where is the Community Center tract?
The City's map draws it as two small blocks north of Embarcadero Road, west of the Channing Park tracts. No record we read names its streets, so check a specific house against the City's parcel and tract records.
Related reading
Los Arboles Eichler, Palo Alto: The Tract, Overlay and Addition No. 2
Palo Alto Eichler Design Guidelines: What They Say and When They Apply
Eichler Homes Company History: The Builder Behind the Tracts
Palo Alto Eichler Neighborhoods: A Guide to Every Tract We Cover
More guides on this topic: Eichler Neighborhoods & Tract Histories
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Thinking about a 1970s Eichler in Palo Alto, or a remodel of one? Call or text the Boyenga Team at Compass at (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or contact the Boyenga Team online.
